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Each individual doula’s distinct offerings reflect their training, experiences, and personal approaches to death and dying. Please feel free to reach out to any of us to learn more about what end-of-life doulas can provide and how we might specifically be of help to you. Contact info in Bio.
Billie Jo provides End-Of-Life Support as a Death Doula, Coach and Educator, Pet Death Guide and Grief Tender. She was called to this work through an intention of finding her place in service to her community, and through an awakening that this work has been a force in her soul from her earliest experiences with death and loss. With an open heart, she began to notice that there is a very real need in our communities to recognize death and its place in our lives.
If we imagine our End-of-Life journey at all, we probably hope it will take place in our home, with our people close by, our comforts within reach and our fears and anxieties lessened by the familiar; but in reality, it is most often experienced in a medical setting without the hoped-for comforts of being in our own space, making our own choices and attending to the sacred journey that is taking place. When we reach that inevitable hour of our life’s journey and discover we have chosen to “hope for the best”, or rely upon chance rather than our own wisdom and knowledge of our wishes, we may find our decisions are constrained or influenced by misguided best intentions that are not our own.
As a Death Doula, she is an advocate for her clients so that they may make informed and thoughtful decisions, and take actions that will empower them throughout their end-of-life journey. She partners with medical care support teams and other chosen caregivers to provide non-medical support so her clients may center their mind and energy where it is most meaningful for them. And she offers her time and her presence. She is a witness, holding dignity and sacredness in this space for death to unfold as it’s intended.
As an End-Of-Life Coach, she provides a brave space to examine death in terms of best life care choices, guides you to determine your end-of-life care plan and supports you as you share your choices & wishes with your people.
Billie Jo also provides Pet Death Guidance - holistic support for pet parents as they prepare for their pet’s farewell.
It is her love for and connection to her family, friends and community, and her recognition of our collective need to talk about death with less fear and more lovingkindness and grace, that has empowered her to be of service in this space.
She is truly living the work of her heart.
Billie Jo received her training & certification through the Conscious Dying Collective, INELDA (International End of Life Doula Assoc) and The Centre for Sacred Deathcare.
Contact Billie Jo at 971-404-4229 or billiejo@consciousactsoflove.com
Amelia Whalen is a lifelong learner, ever-curious about deepening connection to our life and death
experience. She aims to face both living and dying with an open heart. She is certified as an end-of-life doula by the Peaceful Presence Project and is NEDA Proficient.
Amelia has always lived close to death from losing her mother at age 7, her own near-death experience at 18, and her husband’s long illness and death in her 30s. Amelia works to ease the fear and uneasiness around death and grief, and has found that witnessing death and dying can be enriching and profound.
As a death doula, she recognizes the spiritual and emotional burdens that may come when facing aging, illness, dying, and death. Amelia gives support with understanding options for care and end-of-life planning.
She offers a steady presence as a witness and guide to the dying. She’s available to assist in
getting affairs in order, accomplishing day-to-day tasks, creating legacy work, creating sacred space and ceremony, and help in planning for body disposition and after-death wishes. She offers workshops inviting her community to approach death and dying with an inspired perspective and advocates for death literacy and open dialog around end-of-life options.
Amelia loves to play outside, especially rock climbing and mountain biking. She’s a founding member of the Sparkle Souls Art Collective, a group committed to building community and inspiring change.
She’s currently creating her next book: The Inspired Guide to Dying, a state-by-state guide to end-of-life planning and options.
Contact Amelia at 518-727-3334 or whalen.author@gmail.com
Tracy has been working in end-of-life issues since 2011 when her father’s long battle with cancer turned end-stage. She was deeply humbled by the ethereal quality of presence that wraps around that time and space while also being enlightened by what felt like a gap in services that could assist individuals and families during one of the most challenging times in their lives. It was then that she answered the call to companion the dying and those who care for them.
As a death doula, Tracy provides non-medical holistic support in emotional, spiritual, and practical matters that can include but are not limited to: education; logistical support; advocacy; creating and/or assisting in legacy projects; respite care; bedside vigil; end-of-life comfort care; and aftercare. She is non-judgmental and flexible, recognizing that people are unique, every situation is different, and people come to this sacred time on a wide spectrum. She honors who you are, where you are, what you need, and brings with her the resources she has developed and collected over the years to help minimize stress and maximize presence.
Tracy is also a devoted mother, a bibliophile, a poet, a rockhound, and always seems to have at least one rescue animal.
Tracy is a Certified End-of-Life Doula, Volunteer at Agape Hospice, member of NEDA (National End-of-Life Doula Alliance), and is in the process of becoming NEDA-proficient as a Home Funeral Guide.
Contact Tracy at 520.548.0068 or StillpointTransitions@gmail.com
Alison Butler
Living in a compromised body, I have had to learn how to navigate medical systems and understand and synthesize medical terminology and information. This has given me deep insight and empathy into suffering and ways to think more expansively about what quality of life can mean.
After spending twenty years as a college professor, health issues required me to retire prematurely. I explored other ways to contribute to my community, particularly those that are underserved. Working as an end-of-life doula requires active listening skills and the ability to meet people where they are, along with the same degree of rigor, thoroughness, and critical thinking that I developed working as a teacher, mentor, and advisor.
My experience as my father’s primary caretaker during the last years of his life, along with volunteering with hospice as an end-of-life doula, deepened my understanding of how the needs, desires, moods, and capacities of a person moving towards end-of-life change and how to help respond to those changes.
Dying with intention allows people the opportunity to examine their values, wishes, and choices, and helps them choose how to spend the time they have left. Having a guide through the complex decisions and possibilities involved relieves the dying person and their family from having to learn and understand all the options available to them and helps ensure their loved ones are not burdened with unexpected decisions and responsibilities. Death is a life stage to be honored, witnessed, and benefits from being facilitated by a trained and attentive guide and companion. I bring a trustworthy, curious, open-minded, warm, and empathic presence.
In addition, as your end-of-life doula, we can work together to create a lasting legacy that could take the form of an ethical will, which has its roots in Judaism, a video of precious objects and their history, an annotated photo collage, or conduct a life review that which could then be put into a book or posted online available for both loved ones and future researchers. We are limited only by our joint imagination.
I have a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, have studied with both the International Doula Life Movement and the International End-of-Life Doula Association, and completed an extensive course on End-of-Life Planning. I am also an amateur photographer and baseball aficionado.
Contact me via email at: Alison@navigatingdying.com or call (520) 222-9865
Jennifer Knochel has built her life around community empowerment, compassionate care, connection to nature, and deep listening. She has worked as a teacher, outdoor retreat cook, caregiver, Eco-Chaplain, and mindfulness facilitator. These pursuits have come together to support her work as a Death Doula.
Jennifer’s training includes a master’s degree in education, Mindfulness Facilitation through the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, Eco-Chaplaincy from the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, and she is a certified End of Life Doula from the University of Vermont. She has been practicing mindfulness meditation for 15 years and offers community workshops where she shares nature-based mindfulness practices to help people connect with their inner and outer nature. Jennifer is passionate about gathering, growing, and preparing food that supports, empowers, and heals her community. Her teaching career was focused on teaching students about sustainable food systems, interconnection, and emotional intelligence.
As a death doula she hopes to offer presence and space for her clients to process their grief. She invites people to cultivate positive relationships and kindness for themselves, for the earth, and all beings. Jennifer will walk beside you on your path, meeting you where you are at, and supporting you on your journey. Her focus is to be a companion and support in the cultivation of trusting in oneself and in the unique paths we all walk. She is available to help in the planning of all aspects of death from the logistics of advanced directives, planning for caregiving, and discussing body disposition options to creating legacy projects and being a spiritual caregiver.
Being intimate with sickness and death has changed and enriched Jennifer’s life. By working as a caregiver and bringing death into the forefront of her meditation practice, she has cultivated curiosity, kindness, and open-heartedness on a deep level. Her life experiences have prepared her to approach this work with tenderness and wisdom.
Contact Jennifer at:520.247.1848 or jenncookswithfire@gmail.com
In 2016 Yvette Bredice began to search for deeper meaning to her life. She knew she wanted more than a second career. She wanted to do something purpose driven, not knowing yet where that would lead her.
After two years of being quiet and embracing, the unknown things became very clear. After her own near-death experience/memory surfaced, she understood why the idea of death never really scared her. Her near-death experience opened up a place of knowing and accepting that Life and Death are really ONE event. This knowing also left her with the ability to relate to the fear that we often experience at end of life. She has a tremendous ability to accept souls right where they are without judgement. She is a true empath.
In 2018 she took the training course offer by the International End of Life Doula Association (INELDA). She loves being and working as a Doula. She also volunteers for TMC Hospice here in Tucson, AZ. She has taught several classes at TMC Seniors.
Yvette started Tucson End of Life Doulas in 2018. Her intention was to create a hub for local doulas: A place to come together and collectively support each other while working as End of Life Doulas in our community. With high standards being met, all the Doulas will meet you with dignity, compassion, and respect right where you are.
Contact Yvette at: (520) 904-3389 or ybredice@gmail.com
TEOLD does not employ or endorse any doulas. Vetting individual doulas is the responsibility of the consumer.